Next Generation Ticket Technology Trial Comes To Our Region

Parliamentary Secretary for the Illawarra and Member for Kiama Gareth Ward MP has today announced that a regional and rural trial of next generation ticketing has seen the introduction of upgraded Opal technology and State of the art real-time passenger information on selected buses.

Mr Ward announced that 120 local high school students from Corpus Christi and St Joseph’s High Schools are using Opal reader technology to tap on and off their school buses.

“This trial will provide new insights into how regional and rural customers use public transport and help with capacity planning,” he said.

“The introduction of the Opal card in 2012 has given us more insight into the way customers travel. We’ve been able to use this data to ensure we deliver services when and where they are needed.

“The new system also allows information about Kiama Coaches to go into customer trip planning applications such as the Trip Planner on www.transportnsw.info and Trip View, which is something that was previously only available for city transport services.

“The ground breaking technology will be a huge benefit to our local community.

“This technology will help bring our community services in line with the standards we see in the city, making it easier for both locals and tourists to travel on public transport.

“Transport for NSW is also working with Kiama Coaches on a ticketing trial for later this year that will allow customers to pay for their travel using contactless cards rather than traditional cash.

“Customers on regular routes will be able to pay their fare using their debit card or their credit card. This will make it much easier for infrequent users of public transport in the area to catch a bus,” Mr Ward concluded.